Say what you will about this years’ Viking squad, but one thing they clearly learned this season was a little something about mental toughness. The Vikings struggled to connect passes in the first half, and after a few costly miscues found themselves down 0-2 to Nixa at the break. This time though, Parkview came back strong. Just a couple minutes into the second half, Kelsey Loderhose was high pressuring a defender and picked her pocket, only to be dragged down on a semi-breakaway. As the play developed, players, coaches, and parents began yelling about the no-call, but the referee and Jessica Maerz were both still on their game. The referee waited about 6-8 full seconds to let advantage develop, as he saw a sprinting Maerz take full advantage of th given opportunity. Maerz ran through the play, taking the loose ball directly at the keeper before beating her with a low far-post shot to bring the Vikings within one at 1-2.

Parkview let a few costly errors at key positions hurt them against Nixa on Saturday, and Nixa capitalized well on those opportunities. The Vikings especially had strong games from sophomore stopper Anna Withers, sophomore center-mid Olivia Solari, and junior center-mid Jessica Maerz.

Parkview ends it’s season at 14-10, a great improvement over the last few years, and the best overall record in PHS girls soccer recent history.

Scoring Summary: Jessica Maerz 1g

The Vikings picked up their 14th win of the season on Thursday, beating Willard 4-0. Melanie Allen made her return to the field after missing a long part of the season due to injury, and had the first assist of the game.

Scoring summary: Shelby Stewart 2g, Kelsey Loderhose 1g, Jessica Maerz, Melanie Allen 1a, Caylin Manary-shutout

The JV squad beat Willard 2-1 for the second time in a week. Mary Langebartel scored about three minutes in, and the Vikings played with a lead for the rest of the way.

Scoring summary: Mary Langebartel 1g, Kelsey Loderhose 1g

Coach Clint Nurnberg broke the 200 win mark a few games ago, against Waynesville (he quietly said nothing, so we missed it). Nurnberg is currently at 202 career high school soccer coaching varsity wins.

Nurnberg has coached the boys for nine seasons to date (following one year of PHS coaching by Jeff Freeman), and the girls for six (taking over for Laplante, who was there a short time after Ron Tate).

Do the math: Nurnberg is averaging 13.5 wins per season, coaching the boys to a consistently high win total, and helping turn the PHS girls program around, all while playing in the very tough Ozark Conference and Districts 11 and 12.

Congrats Coach!

The Vikings got 58 seconds into the game before lightening delays stalled the match for an hour and a half, but eventually Parkview was able to come out with a victory over West Plains. The Vikings won 6-0, with four goals coming from Shelby Stewart, and the other two from Jessica Maerz.

This was the Viking’s 5th Ozark Conference win, putting them in 5th place out of 10 teams. This give Parkview a winning record in the Conference for the first time in recent history. Parkview’s overall record is now 13-9, and they have ensured themselves a winning record for the second consecutive season.

West Plains’ website also had a nice write-up about the game.

Scoring Summary: Shelby Stewart 4g 2a, Jessica Maerz 2g 1a, Holly Messick 1a, Caylin Manary and Maddie George combined for the shutout in goal.

JV match: Canceled

Parkview’s final regular season match is on Thursday. The Vikings play at Willard, with a Varsity kickoff at 4:00pm, and the JV match to follow.

The Lady Vikings broke last season’s win total on Monday night, beating Neosho 6-1 for their 12th win of the season. The Vikings used their speed up top and in the midfield to create opportunities, and defended well enough to somewhat limit Neosho’s opportunities. Neosho did get their chances, but Mckenzi Payton cleaned everything up in the back for the majority of the night, and Shelby Stewart (2g, 1a), Kelsey Loderhose (2g), Jessica Maerz (1g, 1a), and Meaghan Allen (1g) took care of things offensively for the Vikings. The Varsity squad has accomplished one of their goals by improving on last year’s win total, but are not finished yet. Tuesday night the Vikings will face West Plains, which is not only senior night, but also the final Conference match of the season. Parkview is currently 4-4 in the Ozark Conference, and is looking to finish with a winning record in the top half of the Conference.

Scoring Summary: Shelby Stewart 2g 2a, Kelsey Loderhose 2g, Meaghan Allen 1g, Jessica Maerz 1g (Neosho: Melanie White 1g)

The Junior Varsity squad is now 6-8-3, after tying their match 1-1. For the second straight game the Junior Varsity squad went down a goal, but recovered. This time the Vikings, who dominated play for the majority of the game, were only able to get one back as Amanda Leckrone drilled a shot by the keeper’s left from inside the box.

Scoring Summary: Amanda Leckrone 1g

The other scores from the night can be found, as always, at www.sgfsoccer.com.

The Vikings play next on Tuesday night against West Plains. As previously mentioned, West Plains is a big game because of the Ozark Conference implications. The Vikings would also ensure themselves a winning record if they could win tonight. The Varsity squads play first at 5:00pm (and don’t forget it’s Senior Night). The JVs will follow around 6:45pm. Both matches will be played at JFK stadium. Senior Night festivities will take place at halftime of the Varsity game.

Here are the seeds and schedule for our girls’ soccer district at Ozark High School:

1. Glendale
2. Ozark
3. Kickapoo
4. Nixa
5. Parkview
6. Branson

Saturday, May 16

5:30 PM – Nixa vs. Parkview
7:30 PM – Kickapoo vs. Branson

Wednesday, May 20

5:30 PM – Glendale vs. Parkview/ Nixa winner
7:30 PM – Ozark vs. Kickapoo/Branson winner

Friday, May 22

7:00 PM – Championship

After losing the first match of the day to Ozark 0-3, the Vikings came out with a bit more effort and intensity in match number two, beating Willard 2-1. Parkview showed resiliency and mental toughness after giving up a goal early in the second half to go down 0-1, as they scored two goals in the final fourteen minutes of the match.

Kelsey Loderhose, swinging down for the tournament because the Vikings were without both Sydney Pilkinton and Carsen Miller, scored both goals for the Vikings. Both goals came on shots from inside the box coming in the run of play, as the Vikings controlled the ball for the majority of the match. Parkview was playing Willard without keeper Maddie George because of an injury in the Ozark game, and Julie Ryan was in the net in her place.

The PHS girls showed good signs of understanding what it takes to win on Saturday, being both mentally tough and aggressive throughout the match. After the first game, in which Maddie George had a great game but nobody else played particularly well, the Vikings adjusted, stepping in front of people, winning balls in the air, and showing a desire to get to every ball first.

The Viking squads play next against Neosho at home, followed by West Plains (Senior Night) on Tuesday at home again, and will go to Willard on Thursday for the final regular season match.

Match #2
Parkview 2
Ozark 1

Scoring summary: Kelsey Loderhose 2g

Match #1
Parkview 0
Ozark 3